


A Shaggy Dog Story

by avantegarda



Category: The Silmarillion and other histories of Middle-Earth - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Gen, Gondolin, i fridged a dog, poor dog
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-22
Updated: 2014-05-22
Packaged: 2018-01-26 02:14:30
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 459
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1670972
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/avantegarda/pseuds/avantegarda
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A few drinks, an innocent question, and a very sad backstory.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Shaggy Dog Story

He wasn’t entirely sure what was in those delicious amber-colored drinks. All he knew was that he’d had four of them, and now the world was looking pleasantly fuzzy.

Idril had been drinking too, which wasn’t something he’d ever seen her do before, and he had to say he was enjoying it. Her usual brisk, businesslike demeanor had softened and she was giggly, warm and affectionate. This was a good side of her, Tuor decided. He’d like to see it more often.

That red dress she was wearing wasn’t hurting the situation, either.

She caught his eye and smiled, swaying her hips as she walked over to him. He swallowed hard. “Evening, Idril.”

“Hello. I need to _ask_ you something.”

“Oh. Um. All right. What is it?”

She pushed her skirts aside and unceremoniously plopped down on the bench beside him. “So. Why don’t you have a dog?”

“What?”

“Why don’t you have a dog? I know you like dogs. Everytime you see a dog around town you pet it. You visit Ecthelion constantly so you can play with his mother’s dogs. You practically _are_ a dog. So why don’t you have one?”

Damn. It looked like he’d have to tell _that_ story. He wondered if he was too drunk to tell it without crying. “Well, the thing is…I used to have a dog. Back when I was living on my own. I kind of accidentally stole him from Lorgan—he was the runt of the litter, I looked out for him, we bonded. When I ran off he followed me and refused to leave, so I adopted him. King, I called him. He was all I had for those four years. But then…” He blinked a couple times, hard. “They killed him. I was in a fight with a couple of the Easterlings and one of them just…stabbed him.

That was when I decided to set off on my own. I couldn’t stay there, not after they’d killed my only friend. “So yeah, that’s why I don’t have a dog. It wouldn’t feel right, not after King.”

There were odd sniffling noises coming from beside him on the bench. Turning, Tuor saw that Idril had one hand clamped over her mouth, tears streaming from her eyes.

“That’s so _sad_!” she sobbed. “Oh, gods, I’m so _sorry_.”

“No, listen, it’s really all right…” Before he had time to finish his sentence, she’d thrown her arms around his neck and pulled him into a tight hug.

He was still sad about King, of course. But Idril was hugging him, and she was all warm and soft and nice-smelling, and talking about his past had actually felt good for once…

Maybe it had been a successful evening after all.


End file.
